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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23763475">Battlefield Hysteria</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeBlaster/pseuds/LeeBlaster'>LeeBlaster</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Episode: s07e25 What You Leave Behind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23763475</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeBlaster/pseuds/LeeBlaster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Their laughter died off as fast as it had begun. It wasn’t the first time Kira Nerys had been so battle fatigued, the odds stacked against her, the plan so ridiculous, and the stakes so high that body racking laughter was the only reasonable response. Of course, this time the situation was completely different; she was far from Bajor and her people, and she was helping the Cardassians.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Battlefield Hysteria</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"As I said...we have a problem."</p><p>Their laughter died off as fast as it had begun. It wasn’t the first time Kira Nerys had been so battle fatigued, the odds stacked against her, the plan so ridiculous, and the stakes so high that body racking laughter was the only reasonable response. Of course, this time the situation was completely different; she was far from Bajor and her people, and she was helping the Cardassians.</p><p><em> The Cardassians. </em> The Prophets must have a sense of humour. The last time she was in this position it was <em> against </em> the Cardassians, trying to free her own people. Karma was a human concept, but it seemed to come around and, Kira of all people, was now on the Cardassian homeworld helping them free their own people.</p><p>She’d gone down this train of thought more times in the past few weeks than she’d have liked, so she cut it short. She had to focus now. Kira and the Cardassian strike team the rebels had assembled needed to figure out a way into this damned shuttle bay.</p><p>“What if I give myself up and pretend to be a prisoner?” Damar asked in a hushed voice to her left, conscious of the guards a few feet in front of them.</p><p>Kira moved her gaze from the door to Damar. He shifted uncomfortably, this plan wasn’t his first choice, but something in his eyes told Kira he was prepared to do anything. They were desperate, sure, but since Kira had stepped foot on the planet, she could see a new determination in Damar. A new purpose. She had seen that same look her entire life, on Bajor, in the resistance, but mostly in the mirror. It was the look of wanting to see your home free again. The last time she had seen Damar he was a drunk and pathetic officer, scrambling for his next promotion; now, there was a whole new man crouching beside her. This was still the man that had killed Ziyal and that was something she could never forgive him for, but it seemed that he was trying to make up for so many things. Kira refused to just throw him to the Dominion.</p><p>“They’d kill you on sight.” She answered, sharply.</p><p>“And us along with you.” Garak added from beside her, eyes shifting between the conversation and the doors.</p><p>Kira pursed her lips. Garak was right, that plan might have worked before but there was no way they’d get lucky and pull the same trick twice.</p><p>And that was yet another thing that she was trying not to think about. Kira never would’ve thought she’d be agreeing with, let alone trusting Garak to watch her back. Even with Odo vouching for him, Kira never would have believed for a second that Garak had an honorable, self-sacrificing bone in his body, and yet here they all were. Not only was he an active part of the rebellion, but he’d been invaluable in teaching the rest of the Cardassians rebels. All those dirty tricks from the Obsidian Order seemed to be focused on being helpful for once. Whether or not this was a good thing, putting this much trust in him, Kira didn’t know, she just tried to keep her eyes forward.</p><p>“The cargo door.”, someone muttered, interrupting her thoughts. Kira snapped her eyes to the door as it slid open.</p><p>“You’re making a terrible mistake! I am no traitor!” Three cuffed Cardassians officers were shoved out the door by two Jem’Hadar soldiers. The middle one, a Legate by the looks of his uniform, was the one trying to convince his captors, but Kira knew what was going to happen the second they stepped out. She glanced at the men on either side of her, both pairs of eyes were glued to the scene unfolding out in front of them.</p><p>“Please! If you just let be speak to the Founder-”, the two Cardassians on the Legates side were already facedown in the dirt as he turned around, the Jem-Hadar's bayonets already above him.</p><p>“No, wait! No!” the Legates final plea cut off, choking on blood as the blades pierced his chest. But before his dying words even finished, Damar was up and charging toward the scene.</p><p>“No!” he shot down both soldiers before they even realised he was there, and kept running to the open bay door.</p><p>“Cardassia!” someone shouted, and the rest of the strike team followed, running into the cargo bay after Damar, taking up the cry, <em> Cardassia </em>.</p><p>Damar had taken the lead, running recklessly and phasers blazing, Kira right behind him. A man was shot down as soon as they had entered the bay, and even though they had been able to take out the guards posted, more Jem’Hadar were already flooding the room. Streaks of light and the smell of disrupter fire filled the air, the chaos of battle filled Kira’s senses and her instincts took over. She hadn’t even found decent cover before Damar, still in the lead, caught five rifle bursts to the chest.</p><p>Garak was behind him almost immediately, catching him as he fell and dragging behind some empty cargo bins.</p><p>“Fall back!” he yelled over the noise, a hint of panic in his usually guarded voice. Kira and the rest moved back to the same set of containers, phasers still firing. She crouched next to Damar and Garak, shedding the cloak that covered her borrowed Starfleet uniform and clearing her aim. She ducked between the bins, trying to provide some cover.</p><p>Damar was breathing heavily in Garaks arms, fighting to keep his eyes open. Kira grimaced. She’d seen enough of those kinds of injuries to know. She bit down and focused back on firing, that was all she could do.</p><p>Damar was looking up at Garak, struggling to speak, to tell him something. There was determination in Damars’ eyes, but his voice was barely a whisper, “Keep-”</p><p>He didn’t finish. Damar went slack against Garak and his eyes glazed over. Garak stared for a moment, before he snapped up to look at Kira, eyes wide, confused.</p><p>“He’s dead.” he said softly. An unfamiliar expression passed through his face, but he was looking to her for what to do next, and she could see the others doing the same. Seconds were passing, Kira knew, but time seemed to drag.</p><p>Kira was angry. She surprised herself, this man's mere presence had disgusted her not even a month ago and now she felt the red-hot fury settle in her gut as yet another death was added to the Dominions ever growing pile of bodies.</p><p>Even after all the death and destruction that Damar himself had caused, Kira couldn’t help the familiar rage that itched to be released. It made sense in a way; Kira wasn’t blind the lessons of the Prophets. Damar had changed into something more familiar to her. He was fighting the same battle she had been during the Occupation, for the same freedom, and even Damar had been humbled by that irony. She couldn’t just forgive and forget his bloody past but she could see what he was trying to do for his people and their future. It reminded her too much of the people she had lost to the same war.</p><p>“Remember his orders”, she bit out. The growing despair in the Cardassian rebels paused as she spoke, “We stop for nothing.”</p><p>Their confusion was evident, but Garak seemed to understand. The former-outcast stood up, eyes blazing, all cool and calculating gone and replaced with a spirit and fury, calling out,</p><p>“For Cardassia!”</p><p>The others took up the cry, all hesitancy gone in an instant, and pushed forward.</p>
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